Only the industry likes active ETFs
The future of active ETFs is bright - but for the industry, not for investors. There are now 2,000 ETFs and the industry controls $3 trillion in assets, much of which is in actives. But most of the new active products are expensive and failing to perform.
Palladium is good as gold
Palladium is rising to all-time highs thanks in part to the Volkswagen diesel scandal. The metal, mined in South Africa and Russia, is used as a catalyst in cars and closely tracks the performance of the non-diesel car industry.
Active managers eat each other
Active managers are dying and as they grow fewer in number are starting to cannibalise one another. Prices wars are now common. Active managers are increasingly moving into passive. How will it end? Not well.
Rating smart beta ETFs, a guide
How do you rate smart beta ETFs? Start out as you would with any ETF: measuring the cost, liquidity and tracking error. But then add an alpha measure, to see if the ETF is in fact generating an excess return. And factor measure, which is trickier.
